Calming Executive Media, Public Speaking Fears
Leadership Development Includes Breathing Exercises, Training
Jun 28, 2009
Media interviews can create the same fight or flight response that some people face when presenting. First, those who have these fears must recognize that hard work, training and coaching are the keys to appearing calm, in control and able to effectively represent an organization to the media.
Above all, according to public speaking expert Richard Levick, "you have two options when you walk into a room. You can own the room. Or it can own you."
Executive Training, Coaching Part of Leadership Development
Conquering fears during a media encounter is part of executive communications training and starts much earlier than when the radio microphone, television camera or reporter’s pen starts recording answers to questions. Realize that while the media interview is important to an organization’s reputation and its key stakeholders, staying calm and appearing confident, knowledgeable and credible are vital.
However, do not overlook the body’s physical response to the anxiety experienced during preparation for a media interview. Breathing exercises will simply and quickly ease tension, release fear, lower stress levels, clear the mind and improve voice.
The stress felt before a reporter asks the first question makes people uptight and hold tension. The body physically locks and one of the first places that this tightness rests is in breathing patterns. Anxiety makes breath quicker and less deep.
Breathing Exercises Improve Presentation Skills
During these anxious periods, breathing is shallow, allowing less oxygen to circulate in the body, and carbon monoxide builds up. The voice then has uncontrolled pitch and tone resulting in strained speech through a tight throat, mouth, face and jaw.
Worse yet, this type of shallow breathing creates a greater fear of public speaking. Speech is less effective, the person feels as though the media interview is a failure and this type of negativity creates more nerves and less air. In essence, the situation degrades throughout a reporter’s questioning.
Media Relations Skills Better, Fear of Public Speaking Eases
An effective cure for this cycle is to use executive coaching tips to learn and use good breathing habits. Think of these breathing exercises as leadership development techniques.
- Stand with the feet a comfortable shoulder-width apart
- Support the body weight through the hips and legs rather than locking the knees
- Consciously release and relax the shoulders, let go of and place both hands on the stomach
- Breathe in through the nose to the count of four. Count slowly.
- Breathe out through the mouth to the count of four
- Do several rounds of inhale and exhale to a four-count while making sure the shoulders, stomach and legs remain relaxed
- Once the four-count is mastered, increase with each practice to extend the exercise for an eight or ten-count.
An alternate to this activity is to raise your arms during inhalation while raising up on the toes. Exhale slowly through the mouth, bring the palms together into the starting position and slowly lower the feet.
Regular breathing exercise is an important part of communications training and is just as important as rehearsing responses to the tough questions that reporters often ask. The results will be confident media relations that display calm, control and good management of difficult situations.
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